The Italian navy said it rescued hundreds of migrants on rickety boats before dawn Thursday as the government ruled out winding down a military operation set up to deal with the hordes of refugees attempting to reach Europe via the Mediterranean Sea.

The naval ship Chimera rescued 206 migrants, 10 of whom were women and one a minor, while the Frigate Scirocco took on board 142 refugees, five of whom were women, the navy said.

Italy set up the “Mare Nostrum” military operation to assist refugees attempting the dangerous passage in unseaworthy boats after at least 366 migrants drowned in October in a shipwreck off the Sicilian island of Lampedusa…